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The Bible Year

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 10, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 8.

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The Bible Year

Assignment for February 13 to 19

FEBRUARY 13: Leviticus 19 to 21.
FEBRUARY 14: Leviticus 22 to 24.
FEBRUARY 15: Leviticus 25 to 27.
FEBRUARY 16: Numbers 1 to 3.
FEBRUARY 17: Numbers 4 to 6.
FEBRUARY 18: Numbers 7 to 10.
FEBRUARY 19: Numbers 11 to 13.

Supplementary Study

Review the book of Leviticus. Outline it in six divisions (Offerings, Priesthood, Cleanliness, Holiness, Feasts, Laws), giving the chapters.

To Think About as You Read

FEBRUARY 13: What it really means to love my neighbor as myself.
FEBRUARY 14: The duty of showing mercy to the poor.
FEBRUARY 15: How does my life conform to the Lord's standard of Sabbath keeping and reverence?
FEBRUARY 16: The honor of being chosen to minister.
FEBRUARY 17: Separation from the world.
FEBRUARY 18: Am I faithful in giving the invitation, “Come thou with us, and we will do thee good”?
FEBRUARY 19: Do I truly appreciate the daily gifts of bread and water and raiment?

Numbers

This book takes its name from the fact that it contains two censuses, or numberings, of Israel,—one at Sinai, the other in the plains of Moab, thirty-eight years later. The Greek name for the book is Arithmoi, from which comes our word arithmetic. A careful reading shows the appropriateness of this title.
Numbers has also been aptly called “The Book of Journeys.” The first chapters are a continuation of Leviticus; but beginning with chapter 9, the narrative of Exodus, which left Israel encamped at Sinai, is resumed. Their main experiences on the way to Kadesh-barnea are quite fully recorded; but of the years in the wilderness little is told save that the camp was moved from time to time.
“The book of Numbers is rich in fragments of ancient poetry, some of them of great beauty, and all throwing an interesting light on the times in which they were composed. Such, for instance, is the blessing of the high priest (6: 24-26). Such, too, are the chants which were the signal for the ark to move when the people journeyed, and for it to rest when they were about to encamp.” The beautiful prophetic poems uttered by Balaam, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, appeal no less to the mind and the heart than to the ear, so lofty and musical are their cadences.

The Key to the Cuneiform Inscriptions

The finding of the Rosetta stone awakened a great desire among Bible students everywhere to explore the historical lands of southwestern Asia in the hope of finding still further confirmation of the Sacred Record. All through the nineteenth century and up to the present time the work of surveying, locating, excavating, collecting, and comparing has gone steadily forward. The great valley of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers has furnished a rich field for archeological research. “Travelers through this valley for centuries had noticed many strange ruins, . . . artificial mounds, dry beds of ancient canals, ruins of towers and cities.” Some of these travelers “had noticed and occasionally picked up, here and there, especially near the mounds, bits of burnt bricks, and fragments of tablets, upon which were found some peculiar, wedge-shaped characters. No one could determine whether they were writing, or simply a species of artistic ornamentation.” Between 1808 and 1820 an English traveler named Rich made a collection of these curiously inscribed little bricks, and sent them to the British Museum. But no one at that time could read their story.
In 1835 Henry C. Rawlinson, then a young English officer in the Persian army, found on Mt. Behistun, in Persian Kurdistan, what is now known as the Behistun inscription.
The mountain that attracted the attention of the young officer was of limestone, “rising out of the plain to a height of seventeen hundred feet. One side of this mass was almost perpendicular in form. About three hundred and fifty feet above the base on this perpendicular side, Rawlinson could see a large space which had been carefully hewn off and polished. Upon this prepared surface he could also descry a large bas-relief representing a king, before whom stood a long line of captives bound neck to neck with a rope. Adjacent to this group were several columns of cuneiform inscriptions.” The young officer determined to secure a copy of these; and finally, after working at his self-appointed task at intervals for four years, in the face of almost insurmountable difficulties and often at the risk of his life, the work was completed.
The next thing was to find the hidden meaning. Seeing that the inscriptions were in three languages, he at once began to study the Sanskrit, Zend, and Pahlavi. He was already familiar with the Persian. With incredible patience he toiled at his task, and “succeeded finally in translating the five columns of old Persian cuneiform writing, nearly four hundred lines. Ten years after his discovery at Behistun, he sent his translation to Europe.”
It was found that this ancient inscription had been made by order of Darius I, king of Persia, about 515 B. C. It gave the history of various revolts, and contained other valuable information.
“On the supposition that the other two inscriptions told the same story, scholars began to attempt to read them. Very soon the second tongue, the Median, or Susian, began to yield its secrets. Then the third series of columns, the Babylonian, was forced to give up its hidden treasures. This Behistun group was found to sustain the same relation to the cuneiform languages of Babylonia that the Rosetta stone sustained to the tongues of ancient Egypt. It was the key to its ancient life, people, and government.”